How much did we love "Star Trek," the new film by J.J. Abrams based on the characters from the 1960s TV series? Well, $76.5 million ways, based on box office receipts, including Thursday and IMAX screenings. I was a little surprised actually. I had thought it would hit the $100 million mark. See my earlier item on the other films which earned $100 million or more on their opening weekend.

Paramount was happy with the figure, however, and expects to recoup its initial investment - the film reportedlly had a $150 million budget - after foreign receipts are counted. And frankly to this point Paramount has done all it could to ruin the reputation of the franchise with cheesy plots and subpar films, so its no wonder if people were a bit skeptical about its return.

What did you think of what you saw?

The anecdotal response I encountered so far was positive, from a 60-plus woman at Home Depot babbling about how much she loved "Star Wars."

"Trek," her husband who had said nothing to this point corrected her

And the butcher at my favorite grocery swooned.

A few of the e mails I've received about the film chastise me for failing to mention that Christopher Pike, played in the film by Bruce Greenwood, was played by former Milwaukee resident Jeffrey Hunter in the original series.